Interactive Map Shows How the U.S. Has Warmed Since the First Earth Day

Since the very first Earth Day was celebrated in the United States in 1970, average temperatures across the U.S. have increased markedly. A new interactive graphic from Climate Central, a nonprofit research and journalism organization, shows a state-by-state breakdown of those temperature trends.

According to Climate Central, average temperatures in the lower 48 states have increased at a rate of about 0.13 degrees Fahrenheit per decade. This is consistent with global trends during the same period, due to both manmade climate change and natural climate variability. Since the 1970s, warming in the U.S. has accelerated, with every state in the continental U.S. seeing an increase in average temperatures during that period.

Click on any state in the interactive for more detailed temperature trend information.

Climate Central found that, on average, temperatures in the lower 48 states have been warming at about 0.48 degrees Fahrenheit per decade since the 1970s. The data in the analysis comes from the National Climatic Data Center.

The fastest-warming states during the period were Delaware and Wisconsin, with a warming rate of 0.67 degrees Fahrenheit per decade. Average annual temperatures in these two states are now about 3 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than they were in 1970, Climate Central found.

In contrast, the slowest-warming states are Washington, Georgia, Florida and Oregon. These states have warmed at a rate of about 0.3 degrees Fahrenheit per decade since 1970, which is close to the rate of increase in global average temperatures.

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